On 9 November, Sri Lankan soldiers shot dead Tamil youths K Ravindran, 20, and S Mathan, 18, at Valaichenai. Razik Group members killed M Perinpamurthy on 10 November in Kaluvankerni as he worked in a coconut grove. The Razik Group works with the Army and has been accused of human rights abuses.
Reports say that some military camps in the east were closed and soldiers transferred to the Vanni to prevent the LTTE advance in the region in early November. The Tigers continued to infiltrate Army-held areas in Batticaloa. Military intelligence officer S Ravichandran was seriously wounded in a grenade attack in Batticaloa town on 5 November.
The next day, M Nishanthan died in a Tiger bomb attack on a telecommunication office. Following the security threat to the town, the police ordered the relocation of three government departments, currently situated near the office of the Police Superintendent, to establish a new security zone. The Army found a bomb under the driver’s seat in a public bus from Batticaloa to Manampitiya in late November. The driver I Gnanasekaram and three others were taken into custody.
The STF carried out a cordon and search operation in Karaitivu and Manalchenai, south of Batticaloa town, on 11 November and detained several youths. They were paraded before talayattis or masked informers and were released later. Relatives complain that the whereabouts of Vantharumoolai resident S Ganeshamurthy, arrested by the Army on 16 November, are unknown.
Nine government doctors have refused to serve in LTTE-controlled areas west of the Batticaloa lagoon. Some 80,000 people in these regions are affected by shortage of doctors. Military restrictions on food, medicine and fuel to Tiger territory continue. Meanwhile, the LTTE celebrated Great Heroes Day on 27 November in areas under its control.
In Trincomalee District, the LTTE’s Pistol Group shot dead Manickam, 35, at Serunuwara in late November. Mr Manickam had earlier worked with the military. The ship Lanka Muditha arrived in Trincomalee on 9 November with 350 passengers from Jaffna. Some 1,250 people, including 70 university students and 275 refugees waited in Trincomalee, but the ship took only 550 passengers to Jaffna on 16 November. Reports say that the ship carried buses and other material for the presidential election in Jaffna.